Height gauge



July 17, 1951 P. AIKEN HEIGHT GAUGE Filed Spt. 22, 1945 I v A v v A VA 0 0 Patented July 17, 1951 U NlTkED stars-s PATENT :oFFicE HEIGHT GAUGE :Percy Aiken, Minneapolis, 'Minn., assignor -to sGeneraliMilla lnca a corporation of.Delaware ,Applicationsep'tember 22, 1945, Serial N0.' 617 ,945

xrGlaims. l

Thisinvention relates to height gauges-of the typeshown in the patent ,to 'Nystrom'No. 2,354,137 dated July 18, 1944.

An objectof this invention is the-provision of a simpler, and more effi-cientform of suchgauge and one which can be economically produced.

Another object isthe'provision'of a gauge of this'type'in which thegplatformis "automatically held parallelto'the'basefor all'settings of the same.

These andother objects of the invention as will hereinafter appear are accomplished by this invention which is fully describedin-the following specification :and 'shown in the accompanying drawings in which Figure 1 is a perspective-view of the height gauge showing the platform raised;

Fig. 2 is a-vertical section-on-the line 2 of Fig. l and Fig.3 is a'partial elevated vertical-section-showingga-modified form of the-adjusting nut.

' The embodiment shown in Figs. 1 and '2 comprises base lli having a vertical opening 12 at one end in which is pressed acylindrical-standard-I4-drilled and tappedat its upperend to receive a shoulder capscrewlliwhichhas its shoulder bearing on the-upper end-of the-standard, said shoulder being threaded to receivea looking nut l8, the purpose of which will'later be explained.

A platform 20 has an integral sleeve-22'formed thereon, this sleeve being lapped on the inside for anaccurate fit on the-standard! which itself is accurately ground so that a snug sliding fit is obtained.

The upper endof the sleeve is threaded at 24 to receive a relatively.longhollownut 26 which bears on the upper end of'the standard. The locking nut I8 has.aslightup andrdownimotion between the top of the screw it-and the top :.of the adjusting :nut :2 6;and.serves,when screwed down, to secure the nut 26 in any adjusted position.

The outer endof theplatform-ZH has seated therein a guide pin Btwhichextends down into a hole32 whichit fits quite-closely so that there is relatively little :rotative movement between the platform and the base. The pin 32 is shorter than'the depth of the holeso that the platform may be completely lowered to rest on the base. A helical tension spring 34 extends through hole 36 in the base where it is held by a pin 38, the latter lying in a shallow trough in the bottom of the base which retains the pin in place but renders it readily removable for disassembling the spring from the base. "The upper end of the spring extends into a hole M3 on the underside of the platform and the spring is retained by means of a pin '42. The arrangement of connecting the spring in theholes also permits the platform to be flowered completely to where it rests onthe base 10.

The lower surface of the base is preferably relieved byalongitudinal slot hlleaving .two bottom faces which :are accurately ground toflatness for ,use :ona surface-:plate. Theupper surface of the platform'is.groundandlapped into accurate parallelism with (the faces '46.

.It Willbenoted that-the spring "Maids gravity indrawing the platform-. 21] andthe adjustingnut 26 always intoa position where. any;backlashdue to ;,the screws will :be .removed. The placing of the;springonxthatrside of 'the standard on which lies the platform itself .servesalsoto aid gravity inwmaintainingrthe platfornrin the same relative position withrespectto the standard. Blocks 50 are :then used on :the platform, the upperand lower :surfaces of :these blocks'being ground and polished: into accurate parallelism.

:In: use, the platform, with; a given block thereon,is.raised-'until the:finger 11.0 of thezdial indicator .restingon the surface plate S. shows that the'top surface of the block is :a predetermined heightrabove thersurface S-of the surface plate on which-the height-gaugeis placed.

When the .top surface- 162 .of the block :68 has been setpto ca desired :height, :or ,if desired, the top surfaoei5llof theplatformilll, it-set to'a desired height above the surfaces-bf the surface plateythelock-nut I8 .is screwed down against the.- adjusting nut 4L6 thereby locking :the gauge in ;the adjusted "position. Either "the top surface 5940f :thezplatform, ;or the top surface 62 of the cblock'may :thenbe :used as areference plane-.from'whichito measure heights of other elements of .:a piece :beingchecked'by means of the finger-10. of the;dialindicatorwhich all the while rests on thetopof the surfaceplate S.

Some people prefernot-to use alock-nut, and Fig. 3*sh0Ws a form in which the-standard H4 is provided with a shoulder cap screw 116, the shoulder bearingon the top of the standard. About-this shoulder rotates an adjusting nut I26 which isthreaded on "the upper end of a sleeve #24.

While I have shown and described but a few forms of my invention it will be understood that it is capable of many modifications. Changes, therefore, in the construction and arrangement may be made which do not depart from the spirit and scope of my invention as disclosed in the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. A height gauge having a base, a standard of uniform diameter rising from the base, a platform having a sleeve slidably mounted on the standard, means for preventing rotation of the platform with respect to the standard, a nut rotatably mounted on said standard and being threaded to the top of said sleeve and having a portion overlapping the top of the standard, the sleeve being of minimum thickness between the nut and the standard, the bottom surface of the base and the top surface of the platform being parallel for all adjusted positions of the platform, a tension spring connected between the base and platform assisting the action of gravity on the platform for preventing backlash between the nut and sleeve and for holding the nut firmly down against the upper end of the standard, and a screw threaded into a hole in the top of the standard, said screw having a shoulder about which the nut rotates, the shoulder being longer than the thickness of the overlapping portion of the nut so as to permit the nut to rotate freely and which threads down to press the overlapped portion of the nut against the top of the standard.

2. A height gauge having a base, a standard of uniform diameter rising from the base, a platform having a sleeve slidably mounted on the standard, means for preventing rotation of the platform with respect to the standard, a nut rotatably mounted on said standard and having a screw threaded connection with said sleeve, the bottom surface of the base and the top surface of the platform being parallel for all adjusted positions of the platform, a tension spring connected between the base and platform assisting the action of gravity on the platform for preventing backlash between the nut and sleeve and for holding the nut firmly down against the upper end of the standard, a screw threaded into a hole in the top of the standard, said screw having a shoulder about which the nut rotates, and having a larger screw-threaded portion above the shoulder, and a head above said portion, and a lock nut threaded on said portion, the lock nut when backed off against the head being out of engagement with the nut so as to permit the nut to rotate and locking the nut when in engagement therewith, the thickness of the locking nut being less than the height of the threaded portion above the shoulder.

3. A height gauge having a base, a standard rising from the edge of the base, a platform having a sleeve at the edge thereof slidably mounted on the standard, a pin mounted beneath the platform and slidable in a hole in the base preventing rotation of the platform with respect to the standard, a nut rotatably mounted on the standard and having a screw threaded connection with the sleeve, the bottom surface of the base and the top surface of the platform being parallel for all adjusted positions of the platform, a threaded member rising from the standard above the nut, a locking disk carried by the threaded member to abuttingly engage the nut for looking it in a pre-set position, said disk and nut being of substantially the same diameter and each having a roughened portion and adjoining the other for manually maintaining the nut adjustment while rotating the locking disk, a first recess in the lower face of the platform, a second recess in the upper face of the base opposite said first recess and extending to the lower face of the base, a shallow trough in the lower face of the base located at the recess opening, a spring anchored in the first recess and extending through the second recess, and a pin positioned in said trough and extending through the spring to hold the spring in the recess.

4. A height gauge having a base, a standard rising from the base, a platform having a sleeve slidably mounted on the standard, a pin mounted beneath the platform and slidable in a hole in the base preventing rotation of the platform with respect to the standard, the pin extending below the platform a distance less than the depth of said hole to permit the platform to become lowered completely to rest on the base, an adjustment nut rotatably mounted on the standard and threaded to the sleeve, the bottom surface of the base and the top surface of the platform being parallel for all adjusted positions of the platform, a threaded member rising from the standard, a cylindrical locking disk carried by the threaded member to be screwed down on the nut to lock same in its present position, said nut and disk having substantially the same diameter and having adjoining roughened portions for manually maintaining the nut adjustment while locking by means of the disk.

5. A height gauge having a base, a standard of uniform diameter rising from the base, a platform having a sleeve telescoped on the standard said sleeve being of over-all uniform minimum thickness, means to prevent rotation of the platform with respect to the standard, a sleeve nut rotatably mounted on the standard and having a portion overlapping the top of the standard, said nut screwed over the sleeve, a threaded member rising from the standard, a locking disk carried by the threaded member to screw down upon the sleeve nut pressing the overlapping portion against the standard to lock the sleeve, a first recess in the lower face of the platform, a second recess in the upper face of the base opposite said first recess, and a tension spring connected between the base and platform for preventing backlash between the nut and sleeve, the ends of the spring being connected to the base and platform in said recesses to permit the lower face of the platform to be lowered against the upper face of the base.

PERCY AIKEN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 799,533 Clark Sept. 12, 1905 933,992 Ketchum Sept. 14, 1909 2,354,137 Nystrom July 18, 1944 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 27,855 Great Britain 1896 

